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Shakur Stevenson believes Dmitry Bivol will probably be victorious this Saturday evening if he finishes stronger than in his first battle with unified mild heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev final October. Bivol (23-1,12 KOs) in Riyadh.
Psychological Warfare
Within the second half, Bivol wilted mentally and bodily from the strain Beterbiev placed on him and refused to battle. In warfare phrases, he was on a full-scale retreat from the sixth and by no means selected to dig in and battle after he’d taken some large photographs from Artur.
For the followers who take pleasure in watching pure boxing, they have been depressed to see Bivol crumble the best way he did, nevertheless it wasn’t surprising if you happen to’d adopted his total profession. We’d seen the identical conduct from him in his fights in opposition to Joe Smith Jr. and Lyndon Arthur. Bivol is okay when he’s on high, touchdown all of the photographs, however when he will get hit again laborious, he turns and retreats, and he stays in that mode.
The wolf-like Beterbiev uncovered that psychological weak spot within the first battle with Dmitry, and you’ll guess he’s prepared to complete off susceptible prey within the rematch. This might be quick and brutal on Saturday, making many Bivol followers sad. In the event that they’d studied his previous fights, they’d have identified what the longer term holds for him. He’s effective when he’s acquired a straightforward mark in entrance of him, just like the smaller Canelo Alvarez, however he goes to items when coping with strain.
“If Bivol finishes stronger this time, I think he wins the fight,” mentioned Shakur Stevenson to DAZN Boxing, giving his two cents on Saturday’s rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Bivol’s Security-First Type
It’s comprehensible why Shakur is on the Bivol bandwagon; they’re birds of a feather. Bivol is a safety-risk sort of fighter, similar to Shakur, and that’s why he’s by no means develop into standard regardless of holding the WBA title from 2017 to 2024. That’s an extended seven-year-reign, and Bivol ought to have develop into a star holding onto a title that lengthy. He didn’t due to his risk-averse model of combating.
“This is a man [Beterbiev] on a mission, and Bivol is going to have to rise to a very high occasion,” mentioned DAZN reporter Claudia Trejo. “If that’s what he could do at that age [39] at only 80%, imagine what he could do at 100%,” mentioned Claudia, speaking bout Beterbiev coming off knee surgical procedure for his first battle with Bivol on October twelfth. “No politics. It [the rematch] was done very quickly.”
“When I saw it, I thought, ‘This can’t be happening because they can’t be turning around that quick,’” mentioned Ade Oladipo concerning the Beterbiev-Bivol rematch occurring so quickly. I at all times discuss with a boxer going into their software bag like a mechanic and discovering a software for the issue.
“He needs to risk a lot more in this fight,” mentioned Trejo about Bivol. “He’s going to have to sit, he’s going to have to bang it out, and he’s going to have to go toe-to-toe. What I saw in the first Beterbiev-Bivol 1 was Beterbiev doing what he does best, which is literally going after his prey.”
Bivol ought to keep within the pocket extra within the rematch, however he received’t. He has a behavior, and habits are laborious to remove. It’s like an individual saying they’re going to quit smoking. A lot of them can’t kick the behavior. Bivol is identical means. He talks about being extra aggressive, however as soon as he will get a style of the lash from Beterbiev, he’ll be off to the races, and it’ll be the identical as final time. If the judges wish to give Bivol an undeserving win and pave the best way for a trilogy, they’ll, nevertheless it’ll be an unpopular determination.
“I think Beterbiev has the skillset to just plow his way through anything, and he’s just a boogeyman in that division. Light heavyweight is his division,” mentioned Claudia.
“He literally emptied the tool bag,” mentioned Ade about Bivol. “He threw the whole lot he may at Beterbiev. I believed Bivol fought an ideal battle. The issue is, I believed Beterbiev fought an ideal battle as effectively.
